Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm posting to let you all know that Lemming Monster isn't dead--oh, far from it. I've got a bunch of ideas and swatches I'd love to show you, except that in the process of moving back home I've misplaced my camera charger and I've no idea where it went. A few days of digging through my stuff proved fruitless. I may have to buy a new one, but I'm trying to hold out on it. Chances are, I put it "somewhere special where the placement is so random I'd have to find it", but you know how that works. (It doesn't.)

In the meantime, please stick around! I think I have a few images from the vault to provide at least a couple swatch pics.

And my days of being MIA have allowed for a little revelation--one thin coat of Milani's Totally Cool is a great layering polish. My NOTD is American Apparel Hunter with Totally Cool over it, and it looks like magic. Deep, blackened green with an eerie purple/pink/bronze overtone. I love it.

Also, I've started making greek frappes. Oh, sweet, sweet caffeinated glory, where have you been all my life?

Friday, August 6, 2010

Um... hello, summer. Take a look at that flood of light! First time all summer that it did that.

Anyway.

This is my first Nubar! I got it in a swap with a very wonderful mua-er when I was in the mood for looking at opaque pink polishes, and she'd sent me this. As far as Nubars go, however, I don't think this is the one to start a good impression on...

Seashell, that pale, stark almost-white pink--is five coats.

Five streaky, streaky coats. In fact, it probably would have been opaque in about two or three, but I put on the extra to be really anal-retentive. And even then--is that visible nail line on the rightmost finger?

Oh, little gods.

Luckily, under the face of the super bright summer sun, it's really, really, really difficult to tell. And it didn't bubble, not at all. This is a bit stark for a professional color, but a professional color it is. I... don't hate it, but I can't profess dying love for this one. It'll do, for now. Meanwhile, my search for a perfect opaque pale pink continues...

Thursday, August 5, 2010

It just occurred to me that, although I've shown you swatches of MaaH on my birthday, I've never shown you a complete swatch. Well, summer is great time to wear glitter, anyway, so here it is!

It has a uniform silver flash, I think, which is what startled a lot of people when they figured out that this color had multicolored glitter in it, but I think that's why I love it. Three coats, a little bit thick, but easy to work with. Also, its lasting time is much longer than Absolutely Alice, but ... well, AA is sparklier.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

So, I found this little pretty when I was out browsing in the dusty old attic of a vintage shop when I found this old thing, black label, pretty red, and all dried up. I figured this could be the point where I made my Great Argument On The General Awesomeness of Thinner by going home and showing everybody how awesome thinner can be with this polish.

So I bought it, and took it home, envisioning thinner awesomeness on a beautiful old color, and wearing it proudly. then I walked into my apartment and about five minutes later we suffered a complete blackout.

Not that it deterred me, oh no. I restored this polish to its original, chemically, fluid goodness with the help of candlelight. It took a lot of shaking and peering through the dimness to see if any chunks were left, and then giving it a lot more shaking than normal just to be a twat. This is about the time when I started the orange-red failgradient.

Turns out that Deer Valley Spice is part of the OPI classic collection. Oh well.

It's a lovely color, nonetheless--less a blue-red shimmer and more a blue-red creme with a whole lot of pink shimmer particle, Deer Valley Spice took three coats because it was so sheer. I can't speak for whether or not that's how the formula is or that's how the formula reacts when most of the bottle is Seche Restore, but nonetheless that is how many coats I took. It's a bit of a firebomb, classic red... and I do love it. Despite its juiciness it can't help but remind me of fall at its best. Or of really obnoxious red sportscars.

(Yeah, okay, maybe that's not the best picture.)

I miss the good old times when OPI polishes weren't horrifically not-punny.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

OPI Sedona seduction is a black label from the 1998 Spring-Summer collection, which means... it's about twelve years old. (Awesome.) This was given to me from a friend of mine--hi, friend~--who was very supportive of my crazy.

You can totally tell that this polish is a 1990s survivor, though--look at that frost! It was a bit of a bugger to apply--see the index finger; that's me trying to cover up dings but discovering that frosts don't like covering things up--but I think the color itself is actually kind of cool. It took three coats, in a wonderfully normal OPI brush, and a really, really steady hand. (My nails are frankly too small for the OPI pro-wide, although it does create a nice shape at the top.)

I don't think I hate frosts as much as I think I do--Sedona Seduction reminds me of Cinderella's ballgown, or the cold light of the moon, or airbrushed metal, or... well, anything but the name of the polish, actually. One would think that Sedona would be vaguely red or orangey? I don't know.

All in all, one of the jewels in my collection, for a myriad of reasons. :3

I think I'm on a blues kick lately, because the only colors I seem to reach out for right now are colors like these--vibrant, summery, in-your-face blues. And Bella's choice is a particularly good one, because it's an excellent, easy creme with a strong turquoise tint... like a bright, obnoxious sister of ChG For Audrey.

Or, maybe, For Audrey on the beach.

All in all, it only took me two coats to paint this color--to be honest, you probably could use Bella's Choice in one. I really can't wait to put this on my toes. :)